City of Oaks (Half Marathon)

Well...  what can be said about the City of Oaks half marathon?  This is the 3rd installment of this race, and my third time running it.  But today was distinctly different.  Temperatures were in the mid- 50's and it rained the entire time.  Yes, I'm officially one of "those people".  I feel as though I've been broken in, as a real runner, since I started and finished a race in the rain! 

However, unlike most of the folks I run with, who for some reason enjoy rainy days, I was less than thrilled!  It was pretty miserable at times, with saturated socks, shoes and clothes, all the while water dripped from the brim of my hat.  I did not have the forethought to bring a trashbag to wear over my clothes, like so many others had...  so I had no protection from the rain or cold winds that would often gust and make wet clothes feel even colder!  Lesson learned.

Having said all of that, the run as a whole turned out pretty good!  With the Richmond Marathon approaching in two weeks, this half marathon was really not a "race", but more of a training run during our 3 week taper.  I wanted to run a nice easy pace.  I ended up finishing in 2:16:27, which isn't a PR for me, but it is a PR on this particular course.  My times in the past two years were 2:19 & 2:21, respectively.  So I was pleased with the improvement, especially when I wasn't trying for one!

On to more exciting things...  Jon and I ran together every step of the way, until he pulled ahead at the end and finished ahead of me!  This was Jon's 3rd half marathon to- date.  On top of the miserable weather conditions, and the onset of a head cold, he pulled an awesome PR and finished in 2:15:39.  This is a 13 minute improvement from his last half, back in May!  Way to go, Jon!